OTHER WAYS TO GIVE

From our archives: Women and war

Franco-Prussian war, 1870-1871. A painting of Bazeilles, a village in France, after violent clashes there between French and Bavarian soldiers. In the foreground, among the victims, are a woman and her child.

Angola, Huambo, 1985. A landmine victim at the Bomba Alta orthopaedic centre. As women are generally in charge of fetching water and working in the fields, they are particularly exposed to the dangers of landmines and other unexploded munitions.

Cambodia, 2008. This woman has been handicapped since a landmine accident. With the help of the micro-credit programme run by the Cambodian Red Cross she set up a small dressmaking business, and is now able to support herself.

Nepal, Dhading District, 2008. Dhan Maya Thapa is still hoping for the return of her son, who was reported missing in 2001. “My son is the first thing I think about when I wake up every morning, wondering if he will be home for dinner with the family that night. When he doesn’t show up at night I console myself that he will be here by next morning.”

Millions of women have paid – and are still paying – a heavy price in armed conflicts: violence, including sexual violence; forced displacement; the loss or disappearance of their loved ones; being deprived of their freedom, and many other forms of suffering. But although war often puts them in dangerous situations, women are not necessarily vulnerable, or victims. Sometimes they play an active role during a war, perhaps as activists, or fighters in the military or other armed groups. Last but not least, many of them have been, and still are, among those who bring help and protection to the victims of war.